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Tuesday, May 26, 2009

A couple of days ago, Christina and I were at an incredible vintage shop around the corner from her apartment in Williamsburg. Run down, un-trendy, and completely cheap, the little rag shop was filled with vintage dresses from the 60's and 70's, my favorite choice of attire throughout my college years. Lately though, in this Alexander Wang-ed out world, most of the bigger vintage shops have stopped buying these "less relevant" pieces in favor of the vintage 80's driven punk looks that are selling so well. I myself have sold 90% of the flimsy polyester dresses that I loved so much. Now I still feel slightly nostalgic for that look, but am wondering if there's a new and interesting way to wear these vintage pieces, without looking too retro.

I immediately thought of one of my favorite films, Sedmikrasky (Daisies), a new wave Czech film from the 60's, featuring the adventures of two outlandish acting females named Marie. For each one of their riotous antics--like setting loads of streamers hanging from their bedroom ceiling on fire, getting smashed and having a very grand food fights, or literally swinging from chandeliers---they dress in appropriately fun attire. While pretty 60's dresses abound, they're matched with expertly tousled hair, deep dark kohl eyeliner, and a daisy-chain crown. It just shows that you can be both pretty and subversive at the same time. Here are some of my favorite moments, and you can watch the entire film on youtube (my favorite scene, which I can't embed, is here! Maybe it's time to go back to the vintage shop and pick up a few of those dresses?